Electric Vehicles Are The Next Bastion For The Luxury Car Industry

Electric vehicles are the next bastion for the luxury car industry as it throws up possibilities in comfort, performance and technology for the pampered lot

- Sumant Banerji

On October 2, Elon Musk, the high-profile Chief Executive of Tesla, the world’s most valuable automobile company, created a flutter in India when he hinted the company could be on its way to the country next year.

“Next year for sure,” Musk tweeted in response to a query by a Twitter account, Tesla Club India, on the long-anticipated entry in the Indian market. The Twitter account was started in March 2019 by electric vehicle (EV) enthusiasts Nikhil Chaudhary and Arun Bhat S. and has over 4,400 followers till date.

Barely a week later, Mercedes Benz, India’s largest luxury car maker, launched EQC, the country’s first luxury EV. Given that electric mobility in India is still at a nascent stage, and issues such as high cost, lack of charging infrastructure and range anxiety — due to which Maruti Suzuki and other mass market companies are yet to launch EVs — the move may seem a bit premature.

Yet, luxury car makers are ready to foray into the electric segment in In-dia. Mercedes will soon be joined by compatriot Audi with its e-tron and Jaguar Land Rover with I-pace later this year. This will be followed by BMW bringing in Mini Cooper SE EV and Volvo introducing the electric version of its compact SUV XC40 in the second half of next year. As indicated by Musk, Tesla’s high-octane entry into India, with possibly its Model 3, could happen around the same time.

Global automotive history is replete with examples of luxury car industry coming out with innovations that later trickled down to mass market segments. It will be no surprise if it happens in electric mobility as well.